Profit-taking Pulls Bursa Malaysia Lower At Open

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- Profit-taking pulled Bursa Malaysia lower at the open on Monday, as the market took time to breathe after breaching new highs several times last week.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 4.38 points to 1,708.36 from last Friday’s close of 1,712.74, after opening 2.17 points lower at 1,710.57.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 214 to 100. A total of 302 counters were unchanged, while 2,039 were untraded and 11 were suspended.

Turnover stood at 113.37 million shares valued at RM78.95 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said in the last two weeks, Bursa Malaysia has closed higher and reached new heights several times.

“Hence, for opening today, we see it is time to take a breath,” he told Bernama.

Thong said Wall Street closed marginally lower amid ongoing geopolitical tensions, with criminal proceedings against US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell continuing to weigh on sentiment.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and CIMB Group down four sen each to RM11.12 and RM8.37 respectively, IHH Healthcare and Press Metal Aluminium slid two sen to RM8.36 and RM7.26 respectively, while Tenaga Nasional added two sen to RM13.88.

On the most active list, AirAsia X declined three sen to RM1.64, SMRT Holdings edged down 15.5 sen to 29 sen, VS Industry weakened by half a sen to 47.5 sen, while Capital A expanded half a sen to 55 sen, and MAG Holding was unchanged at 17.5 sen.

Top gainers included Allianz Malaysia, which expanded 96 sen to RM21.40, Hong Leong Financial Group jumped 14 sen to RM21.10, Mesiniaga advanced 12 sen to RM1.24, Malayan Cement strengthened eight sen to RM7.68, and LPI Capital firmed eight sen to RM7.68.

Leading decliners were Petronas Dagangan, down 14 sen to RM20.52, Petronas Gas and Lysaght Galvanized Steel dipped 10 sen each to RM18.58 and RM2.31 respectively, Genting Plantations eased seven sen to RM5.01, and RHB Bank decreased five sen to RM8.17.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 32.09 points to 12,612.94, the FBM Top 100 Index shaved 32.42 points to 12,404.30, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 28.00 points to 12,274.82, the FBM Mid 70 Index stepped back 48.80 points to 17,636.80, and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 4.56 points to 4,968.87.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced 33.59 points to 20,692.22, the Energy Index inched down 3.21 points to 780.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.21 of-a-point to 174.86, and the Plantation Index ticked down 16.96 points to 8,350.14.

-- BERNAMA